Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: AMANDA VIEIRA DA SILVA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : AMANDA VIEIRA DA SILVA
DATE: 22/05/2024
TIME: 10:00
LOCAL: Remoto
TITLE:

The dark side of mutualisms: the cost of partnership among plants, floral visitors and ant bodyguards

PAGES: 76
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUBÁREA: Ecologia Teórica
SUMMARY:

Mutualistic interactions are interactions of reciprocal exploitation., whose outcome depends on a balance between the benefits received and the costs paid. These costs can be physiological, such as the production of a reward, or ecological, such as the interference of one mutualistic partner with another mutualist interacting with a focal individual. While physiological costs are widely studied, ecological costs are still less understood. A common interference between mutualisms occurs in animal-pollinated plants that have extrafloral nectaries visited by ants that can defend the plants against herbivores. My aim in this thesis was to evaluate the effect of this conflict between ant bodyguards and flower visitors in ecological time and how this conflict may have affected the evolution of attributes that mediate mutualistic interactions. To do so, in the first chapter, I conducted a meta-analysis to understand the effect of ants on pollination and which attributes may mediate the cost that plants pay when interacting with defending ants and pollinators. I found that ants impose a small but variable cost on the pollination of these plants, although they have a significant negative effect on bee visitation. In the second chapter, I investigated the evolutionary trajectory of extrafloral nectaries and buzz-pollination by bees in angiosperms. I found a negative evolutionary correlation between these attributes, indicating that the conflict between ants and bees may be an important selective force reducing the likelihood of simultaneous occurrence of ant-defense mutualisms and exclusive bee pollination. This thesis emphasizes the importance of considering the simultaneous effect of interactions on a focal individual from both ecological and evolutionary perspectives.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - Interno ao Programa - 058.701.134-31 - LAURA CAROLINA LEAL DE SOUSA - NENHUMA
Membro Titular - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - GUSTAVO BURIN FERREIRA
Membro Titular - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - ISABELA GALARDA VARASSIN
Membro Suplente - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - EDUARDO KOERICH NERY
Membro Suplente - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - PIETRO K. MARUYAMA MENDONÇA